I thought you all might find this interesting.

[Hopefulj]

> Subject: go Costco>>>> Make sure you read all the way past the list of the drugs The woman who> wrote this and signed below, Sharon Davis, is a Budget Analyst out of> Federal Offices in Washington, D.C.>>>> Did you ever wonder how much it costs a drug company for the active> ingredient in prescription medications? Some people think it must cost> a lot, since many drugs sell for more than $2.00 per tablet.>>>> We did a search of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply the active> ingredients found in drugs approved by the FDA. As we have revealed in> past issues of Life Extension, a significant percentage of drugs sold in> the United States contain active ingredients made in other countries.>>>> In our independent investigation of how much profit drug companies> really make, we obtained the actual price of active ingredients used in> some of the most popular drugs sold in America.>>>> The chart below speaks for itself.>>>> Celebrex 10 0 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $130.27>> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.60>> Percent markup: 21,712%>>>> Claritin 10 mg Consumer Price (100 tablets): $215.17>> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.71>> Percent markup: 30,306%>>>> Keflex 250 mg Consumer Price (100 tablets): $157.39>> Cost of general active ingredients: $1.88>> Percent markup: 8,372%>>>> Lipitor 20 mg Consumer Price (100 tablets): $272.37>> Cost of general active ingredients: $5.80>> Percent markup: 4,696%>>>> Norvasec 10 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $188.29>> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.14>> Percent markup: 134,493%>>>> Paxil 20 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $220.27>> Cost of general active ingredients: $7.60>> Percent markup: 2,898%>>>> Prevacid 30 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $44.77>> Cost of general active ingredients: $1.01>> Percent markup: 34,136%>>>> Prilosec 20 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $360.97>> Cost of general active ingredients $0.52>> Percent markup: 69,417%>>>> Prozac 20 mg Consumer price (100 tablets) : $247.47>> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.11>> Percent markup: 224,973%>>>> Tenormin 50 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $104.47>> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.13>> Percent markup: 80,362%>>>> Vasotec 10 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $102.37>> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.20>> Percent markup: 51,185%>>>> Xanax 1 mg Consumer price (100 tablets) : $136.79>> Cost of general active ingredients: $0.024>> Percent markup: 569,958%>>>> Zestril 20 mg Consumer price (100 tablets) $89.89>> Cost of general active ingredients $3.20>> Percent markup: 2,809%>>>> Zithromax 600 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $1,482.19>> Cost of general active ingredients: $18.78>> Percent markup: 7,892%>>>> Zocor 40 mg Consumer price (100 tablets): $350.27>> Cost of general active ingredients: $8.63>> Percent markup: 4,059%>>>> Zoloft 50 mg Consumer price: $206.87>> Cost of general active ingredients: $1.75>> Percent markup: 11,821%>>>> Since the cost of prescription drugs is so outrageous, I thought> everyone knew should know about this. Please read the following and> pass it on.>>>> It pays to shop around. This helps to solve the mystery as to why they> can afford to put a Walgreen's on every corner.>>>> On Monday night, Steve Wilson, an investigative reporter for Channel 7> News in Detroit, did a story on generic drug price gouging by> pharmacies. He found in his investigation, that some of these generic> drugs were marked up as much as>> 3,000% or more.>>>>http://www1.wxyz.com/wxyz/ys_investigations/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15949_2635151,00.html> Yes, that's not a typo.....three thousand percent! So often, we blame> the drug companies for the high cost of drugs, and usually rightfully so.>>>> But in this case, the fault clearly lies with the pharmacies> themselves. For example, if you had to buy a prescription drug, and> bought the name brand, you might pay $100 for 100 pills.>>>>>> The pharmacist might tell you that if you get the generic equivalent,> they would only cost $80, making you think you are "saving" $20.>>>> What the pharmacist is not telling you is that those 100 generic pills> may have only cost him $10.>>>> At the end of the report, one of the anchors asked Mr. Wilson whether> or not there were any pharmacies that did not adhere to this practice,> and he said that Costco consistently charged little over their cost for> the generic drugs.>>>> I went to the Costco site,> http://www.costco.com/Pharmacy/FrameMaster.asp?cat=678 where you can> look up any drug, and get its online price.>>>> It says that the in-store prices are consistent with the online prices.>>>> I was appalled. Just to give you one example from my own experience, I> had to use the drug, Compazine, which helps prevent nausea in chemo> patients.>>>> I used the generic equivalent, which cost $54.99 for 60 pills at CVS.>>>> I checked the price at Costco, and I could have bought 100 pills for$19.89.>>>> For 145 of my pain pills, I paid $72.57. I could have got 150 at Costco> for $28.08.>>>> I would like to mention, that although Costco is a "membership type> store, you do NOT have to be a member to buy prescriptions there, as it> is a federally regulated substance. You just tell them at the door that> you wish to use the pharmacy, and they will let you in. (this is true,> I went there this past Thursday and asked them.)>>>> I am asking each of you to please help me by copying this letter, and> passing it into your own email, and send it to everyone you know with an> email address.>>>> Sharon L Davis Budget Analyst>> U.S. Department of Commerce Room 6839>> Office Ph: 202-482-4458>> Office Fax: 202-482-5480>>>>
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